Letter Carola Schouten
Now 2.100 companies suspected of fraud
Minister Carola Schouten (Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality) announces that research is now being carried out at 2.100 cattle farms into the registration of calves. This after irregularities in the Identification & Registration System (I&R) have been established. The companies that are suspected will be blocked on Thursday and Friday. Individual animals are also blocked.
Previously, there were 45 companies blocked. It is not yet known what the results of the investigations on those companies are. Schouten indicates that the blockade has been lifted on a number of companies.
New blocks
Thursday 8 and Friday 9 February will be held again 2.100 cattle farms blocked and further investigated. This was after irregularities were found in the administration here too. Schouten announced this in a letter to the House. Blocked means that only milk and by-products are allowed to leave, but that no more animals may be removed or supplied.
The calves that left for mainly veal farms have also been blocked. "This until the registration has been demonstrably restored." A measure that is necessary for the prevention and control of an animal disease. It is emphasized that there is no threat to food safety.
Compare administration
In an explanation, the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality states that different administration systems have been compared. "By comparing these systems with what is stated in the I&R system, irregularities can be discovered." It concerns the milk production and the birth dates of calves.
Research is being conducted into 2 scenarios. For example, calves of heifers have been placed with a cow. This explains the increase in twins. However, the heifer has started to give milk, which has increased the average milk production on the farm. The advantage was that a heifer under the phosphate reduction plan remained in the books as young stock, allowing a dairy farmer to keep more cattle and deliver more liters of milk.
The second scenario concerns the import of heifers. "The number of heifers older than 27 months was looked at. The average age at which the animal had a calf. For these animals (from the data provided) the milk production and the calf dates were examined. When an animal in the I&R- registration as a heifer is registered, but other data show that the animal does produce milk and/or has calved, then this is an indication for fraud in the I&R registrationThis also resulted in a violation for a group of companies.
Making fraud more difficult
The discovery of the fraud and enforcement gives "confidence in the I&R system", according to Schouten. "Nevertheless, I think it is important to consider whether there are ways to discourage committing fraud. I am thinking, for example, of making the implementation of recovery reports less easy and less attractive and of standardizing the link with fertilizer regulations, so that manipulation of data no longer yields any benefit."
The measures are being taken because Schouten finds the scale worrying. Other parties in the sector are also investigating how creative accounting can be prevented in the future.
Herman van den Pol
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